Evolve or Die
by dragoscilvio
Summary: Evolution, Peter had been taught it was a natural part of life, but what if the very thing that made him Spider-Man was triggered into a violent evolution that would cost him his life...what then?
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, my name is Dragoscilvio. This is my first fic for Ultimate Spider-man. I have many other stories that I have written for various anime, American cartoons and a movie. I hope you enjoy this story, though I cannot claim the initial plotline as my own creation.**

 **To clarify, this takes place during the time that the team is living with Peter and Aunt May still doesn't know about Spider-man.**

 **The plot and events that occur are ideas gleaned from the story arc concerning Morlun the spider vampire…thing, and Marvel Knight's Spider-man: The Other. If you have read that comic then you have an idea what I'm going to do just with Spidey's team along for the ride. If you haven't read it, then enjoy, because it's going to an angst ridden roller coaster full of drama goodness.**

"…eter….Wa…up….PETER!"

The spider's eyes fluttered open before squinting shut once again as sharp light afflicted them, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he gave a slow heavy swallow. The young man drew in a shaky breath before releasing it in a tentative exhale. He was lying on something hard, and cold judging by the shiver that just slunk down his spine making his frame dance.

How he had gotten where he was, Peter couldn't remember. He hadn't been captured (as far as he knew) and the last thing he could recall was climbing in through his window earlier that night to catch a scant three hours of rest before tackling his day all over again. Daring another peek at the far too bright world, Peter cranked his eyelids to at least half mast while bloodshot orbs gathered information in sluggish morose. The first thing he saw was a well-known pattern of the white tile in his bathroom, signaling to his brain that he was at least somewhere familiar. Peter sighed, unhappy with the downward spiral his life had currently taken.

It all started with one particular fight.

 **Three and a half months earlier…**

" _That's the last of them,"_

 _Spidey smirked under his mask, perfectly pleased that he had rounded up a gang of bank robbers with little to no property damage. Eyeing the three idiots who had blundered into thinking they could get away with said crime, the juvenile super-hero nodded in satisfaction at the way the trio stuck together in the web cocoon crafted specifically for them until the cops arrived._

" _You little punk, just you wait until we get our hand on YOUUUU!"_

 _The wannabe thief's words were cut short as they morphed into a girlish scream brought on by Spider-man hauling their butts into the air and securing them to a nearby streetlamp "I doubt I'll be losing any sleep over you, chubby," Spidey grunted heaving them up and holding steady long enough to knot the web._

 _The thief in question continued his tirade of insults, Peter ignoring him with the ease of a master long experienced in tuning out unwanted noise (a.k.a. he's gotten really good at ignoring Nova). However it was at this juncture that the spider was suddenly assaulted by the familiar, albeit loud, voice of one of his comrades._

" _Spidey!" Ava a.k.a. White Tiger bellowed into their com link "A super powered baddie just cropped up out of nowhere, we need backup now!"_

" _On my way,"_

" _Sorry boys, got a hot date and it would be rude to be late," Little did he know that as Spider-man shot a web up the nearest building and swung towards his teammates' coordinates as they appeared on his S.H.I.E.L.D. wrist watch his words would prove prophetic._

That night he and the rest of his team battled against a villain whose very ability rested in feeding off the powers of super humans, and he had a particular taste for radiation laced abilities. The monster's name was Morlun, a strange interdimensional vampire thing who was hunting down Spider-man specifically, and any other spider he could find in varying dimesnions. The team worked hard to protect their leader and defeat Morlun however they quickly discovered that he was much too strong for any of them to handle.

Spider-man took most of the hits to protect his team, something for which they were both grateful and irritated. However it was the pinnacle of the battle in which the spider did something even he would later regret.

Peter was a genius, granted he acted the fool but he was a master strategist and an even better scientist. It didn't take long for him to deduce that the best way to defeat this new foe was to basically overfeed him. And so Spider-man led the man to the closest Nuclear Refinery, and then allowed Morlun to begin to feed on his powers, but not before grabbing onto a highly radioactive plutonium core, thus flooding both of their systems with limitless amounts of radiation, fatal amounts. Morlun burned up in shrieking green flames, Spider-man however, survived. Barely.

His team found him right after Morlun's defeat, the spider was writhing on the floor his fingers clawing at the cement as he sent bloodcurdling screams bouncing off the rafters. Radiation crackled and burned across his lithe frame while ragged gasps labored into a convulsing torso. If asked later, Peter would not remember the horrified gasps of his team, much less the screamed argument as they scrambled to find a way to transport their leader to the med bay. In the end it was Nova who carried Spider-man as the aura produced by his helmet protected him from the radiation being pumped out of his leader.

The team watched as the med bay scientists rushed Peter into a chamber that would syphon the radiation safely from his body. They gripped each other, knuckles turning white as the machine powered up eliciting agonized shrieks from their friend. Tears streamed down their faces when finally the process finished leaving a sobbing, hoarse and hyperventilating teenager in the place of the usually strong Spider-man. Finally Peter fell unconscious, no doubt from the sensory overload, and unfortunately fell promptly into a coma for a week.

How his Aunt never found out about Peter being in a coma was a mystery to the young hero, he only knew that Fury was somehow able to cover for him with Aunt May using all his skills as a spy and the technology afforded to him. How Fury even got away with making his Aunt think that her nephew won a last minute trip to a special science camp given only to students who show particular genius, Peter didn't know. However after a week in a coma, the boy finally awoke and was then confined to the closest thing to bedrest that his alter ego could afford. A month down the road he was allowed to once again suit up as Spider-man, mostly because Peter literally parked himself inside Fury's office and sat in an epic staring contest that lasted the entire day until the older man relented and gave his permission to take Peter off the bench.

Peter had no memory of the coma, but even after returning home he sometimes would have nightmares of a cold dark place where he couldn't move, couldn't speak, he couldn't even breathe on his own. Peter always woke from those dreams with a silent scream before wilting into a round of sobbing his entire body shaking in terror, leaving the team to console their leader multiple times over the course of the following months. Their worry was palpable, and Peter hated the amount of weakness that he had no control over. Not even Nova had the nerve to tease the Spider over waking them up for what seemed like the millionth time with yet another nightmare of burning alive or falling into terrifying darkness.

Unfortunately, as it so often did for Peter, Life decided the boy hadn't suffered enough and yet another curve ball was thrown the Spider's way. Thus why he was waking up on the bathroom floor after apparently fainting. Peter grit his teeth in aggravation, the symptoms that were at first merely annoying, were growing steadily worse.

Nausea, dizziness, sudden and random fainting spells followed by epic migraines were only the tip of the ice burg. He felt his spider strength slowly slipping away, and sometimes Peter would find himself crippled by a ripping pain that doubled him in half and caused the spider hybrid to bite back screams of agony. Peter was scared to put it bluntly, but he wasn't ready to tell his team, let alone Fury, that he was having problems. How he had even kept them a secret for this long without his team finding out was a miracle in itself.

"Peter, you've been in there for an hour, we need to leave for school and I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!"

The Spider winced at Ava's, understandable, tirade. If he wanted to keep this charade going and not let the cat out of the bag just yet to his team he needed to take more precautions not to alert or worry them by acting out of the ordinary. Epic bathroom visits included. So picking himself up off the floor, Peter once again pasted on his signature smirk, and proceeded to open the door to greet the young hero.

"Sorry Ava," he apologized sheepishly "I was brushing my teeth and lost track of time surfing Facebook on my phone."

The girl shook her head, but a fond glint shone behind her somewhat stern gaze "I knew I should never have helped you make an account," she sighed "granted it made life easier on us while you were out of commission, but now it's just annoying."

Peter shrugged, he had been using his supposed addiction to the social website as a cover for his fainting spells, and thankfully the team had fallen for it. "Yeah, I know, I'll try to get better at not being sucked in,"

Ava graced him with a smile before waving her hand "Whatever, just get out of the bathroom, we're late as it is and I still need to brush my teeth."

"No kidding," Peter joked, "I can smell your dragon breath from here,"

Ava glared at her leader, but Peter had already danced past her and down the stairs, hopefully a piece of toast will help him to start his day in the most normal fashion possible without anyone being the wiser about his current issues. And if luck was on his side for once, the symptoms were merely weird side effects that would eventually wear off, at least he hoped so. Peter sighed as he sat down at the breakfast table with his normal sarcasm and wit towards his teammates, he just needed to take this one day at a time, surely things couldn't get worse…right?


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello! I'm so pleased at the response to the first chapter, and I hope to see many more reviews in the future!**

Ava frowned at Peter's retreating form, barely registering his cackled quip at the breakfast table. She knew something wasn't right with her leader, his scent was wonky, laced with fear, anxiety and something else that she couldn't quite name. The tigress growled, concern burning in her gut for the person she had come to care for as another member of their odd family. Peter was different ever since the Morlun incident as they had come to call it. He was more distant, often closing himself off to others unless he was in a highly emotional state, usually only after a nightmare.

Speaking of nightmares…Ava sighed as memories from the night before came rushing back to the forefront of her mind in stunning Technicolor.

 **Last Night….**

 _He couldn't breathe, fire, it burned across his chest scorching him all the way down to his toes. Peter scratched at himself, his mouth caught in a silent scream as he fought to rid himself of the ferocious heat even as he felt it increase to unbearable levels. Tears slid down his cheeks though they did nothing to decrease the agony of the raging inferno. Peter drew in a shuddering gasp, crying out as the flame charred the delicate tissue in his lungs._

 _The teen kicked and writhed, pleading with someone, anyone to put out the pyre that was cooking him alive. However just as the blaze reached its peak of agony, Peter felt himself being tipped overboard into a pitch black pit. His limbs became motionless as numbness overtook his frame, and Peter felt hysteria overtake his senses. No! Not there! Anywhere but there! He couldn't breathe down there, he'd be lost forever and who would take care of Aunt May? The flames were gone, but now the broken hero was set adrift in a thick darkness that no light could penetrate. He couldn't breathe…couldn't move…couldn't…._

Danny rubbed his eyes with one fist as the familiar sound of whimpered sobs woke him from a restless slumber. In the space of time it took him to assess the situation Ava had already entered the room followed closely by Sam and Luke. Pitying looks of concern fell on their leader, the pale spider caught in his blankets, a thin sheen of panic induced sweat glistening on his skin as his voice, nothing more than a mewling cry, begged for help.

"Pl-Please," Peter sobbed "make it stop, I-I'm scared….no…I don't want…not here…can't breathe….can't breathe….I can't…!"

Desperate hands scratched and pulled at his shirt, revealing bloody furrows left behind by his nails. Crimson already stained the material of his pajamas and it seemed that Peter had no knowledge of the damage he was causing himself. Seeing the blood and the spider's frantic state Ava dove forward on the right side while Danny took the left, Luke and Sam stayed at the foot of the bed, fully prepared if Peter needed assistance in a desperate run for the bathroom. The spider sometimes felt sick to the point of vomiting after a particularly nasty night terror, and both had gotten used to helping Peter find his way without injuring himself in the scramble to the toilet. Ava crooned softly to Peter petting his head and running her fingers through his hair, both she and Danny had learned the hard way what happened if Peter was jerked out of a nightmare, and the consequences were more often than not painful. Physically for them, and emotionally for their leader at having hurt a member of his team, regardless of it being an accident.

Slowly both were able to coax Peter awake, the young man opening his eyes with a jerk and sitting up in bed in one fluid motion. Keen eyes used to seeing in the dark darted around, searching for an anchor to reality, some proof that he was not in fact trapped in that endless void deprived of any access to oxygen. Finally his gaze sharpened as the people around him came into focus and the teen hero recognized his friends.

"G-Guys?" his whisper was barely above a weak stutter, his body shaking as shock settled into his limbs "W-Wh-What's wr-wrong? I didn't h-hurt you, d-d-did I?"

"Peter, it's ok, no one's hurt, you were just dreaming" Ava gave a comforting smile.

The young hero sighed with relief before suddenly giving a sharp grimace. Looking down the spider felt his brown eyes widen at the blood staining his chest and the already healing scratches left behind standing as evidence to his nightmare. Eventually his gaze turned to his fingernails and bile rose up in the back of his throat at the blood and pieces of skin still clinging to them. His shaking increased tenfold and Peter barely had enough time to jump out of his bed and to the bathroom before waves of vomit were catapulted into the porcelain toilet. Luke sat on the edge of the tub, rubbing the tension out of his leader's shoulders his chiseled features heavy with sorrow.

Ava retrieved a clean shirt and Sam rummaged through the closet before handing the girl a thick blanket to help ward away the harsh trembling afflicting their leader's limbs. Eventually Peter's heaves slowed, leaving him gasping against the wall of the bathroom, his body trembling pitifully as he shrunk into himself to gather some semblance of body heat. Danny quietly ran a washcloth under hot water and tenderly relieved the spider of his shirt before dabbing at the scratches. Luke gave the young monk medicine to prevent infection, then the duo helped lead Peter back to his room and to his bed.

The tigress quickly covered the spider in a fresh shirt before grabbing the blanket, and Sam merely stood by watching Ava wrap him up in solemn silence "You ok, web head?" Nova eventually queried, his voice uncharacteristically soft towards Peter.

The teen hero tried to shrug off Sam's concern, but his dream came back to him in a tidal wave of memory mixed with emotion. The darkness, the pain the never ending flames it was all too much. He hated being such a burden to them. Hated himself with every fiber of his being for not being a better, stronger, leader. They should be sleeping in bed, not standing by him like a bunch of nursemaids to their one invalid. They shouldn't have to be here. However the thought of them leaving him on his own was just as repulsive. Peter's adrenaline shot up as renewed panic coursed through his system at the thought of being left alone and attempting sleep again. He didn't want them to leave, granted Danny was here, but he hated the horrible loneliness that so often accompanied the night. The spider whimpered, his breath coming in convulsive gasps as he curled into himself, his legs drawing up into the fetal position.

Planting his face firmly between his knees, Peter gripped brown hair between trembling hands "I…I don't know," he muttered in answer to Sam's question.

Sam sat down on Peter's right, Ava still maintaining her position at his left and the two cuddled close to the distraught teen. Though Peter didn't say it out loud, they understood that he needed their presence to anchor him. It was normal for anyone who went through that kind of ordeal to feel the need to have people around them. Eventually though they would need to leave the room so that they could sleep as well, but no one had any idea how to do so without feeling like they had betrayed their spider. Suddenly, in the midst of the darkness Iron Fist spoke, making the room's occupants startle at his soft voice.

"Was it the same dream as usual?"

It was a small attempt in aiding their leader to move past this most recent nightmare, and though the spider appreciated it, he found that even thinking back on the smallest details of said dream made his emotions that much harder to control. Peter released a small hiccup, a sure sign that a possible meltdown was dangerously close to the surface but that their leader was fighting valiantly to keep his emotions in check "Y-Yeah, I don't know why it keeps coming back, I'm so sick of this."

"You know what the doctor said," Luke murmured, sitting down at the foot of the bed "that your dreams are memories from what happened, but it was so traumatic that your brain is having a hard time processing them."

"Yeah, I know," Peter moaned miserably.

"If the nightmares are merely memories from the event," Danny continued "then it is possible for you to overcome them. You made it, you were strong enough to defeat Morlun and survive massive amounts of radiation. Then you came out of your coma with no side effects from the poison in your system. You survived Peter, you are no longer in danger you are safe."

"Try telling that to my subconscious," the brown haired teen sniffled "I know I'm safe, but I keep having the nightmares of burning alive, or worse being cut off from everything."

"Maybe it's time you faced your memories, instead of letting them destroy you?"

Peter gnashed his teeth at Danny's suggestion, fury lighting tearful eyes "I don't want to remember the coma! I don't want to remember almost dying from radiation poisoning! I just…I just want to sleep, is that so much to wish for?!"

That last statement was spoken in a tone that left little doubt in the agony Peter was experiencing. Sam found himself sighing. Though he always teased Peter incessantly before all this happened, the young Nova found he couldn't help but admire him. Admire his passion to protect the innocent and do good where no one else would try. Before all this, Peter was strong, granted he would goof off and be immature but so would they. Spider-man could walk off a battle with ease and few injuries. Not that he ever told anyone about his injuries, Spider-Man was notorious for avoiding the med bay, preferring to nurse his wounds in private. Showing weakness, becoming vulnerable, both ideas were foreign to the Spider, and so his team never associated such things with their leader. Odd though he may be, he was always consistent in never showing weakness to those around him.

At least till now.

"Here, why don't you take the sleeping pills Doc Connors made for you?"

Sam was snapped back to the present by Ava's gentle nudging. The Nova winced, normally they didn't even mention the medication Peter had been put on. Meds for PTSD, meds for sleeping, anti-anxiety pills, you name it, Peter was probably on it….Not that he took them. Thus why mentioning the sleeping prescription written and designed by Doctor Connors solely for Peter's use was usually considered a big no-no. Their leader hated the medication, hated what it did to his head and his reflexes, often complaining that it messed with his spider sense making him feel defenseless. It was only on the really bad nights when Peter was almost inconsolable that they dared mention their very existence.

"No!" Peter shook his head vehemently "If I take them now I'll be groggy all day tomorrow and what would we do if a villain attacks? I won't chance going into battle without a clear head."

"Well if you took them before bed when you're supposed to then maybe you wouldn't have to worry about that." Ava persisted with stern compassion.

Danny and Luke exchanged twin looks of unhappy resignation. Peter and Ava had been having this argument since he was released to go back home. Right now the score was seventy-five to fifteen, with Peter in the lead. Those fifteen nights where Ava managed to convince Peter to choke down his pills were the worst nights by far, filled with them physically having to restrain the spider and cover his mouth so that his terror filled screams wouldn't wake his aunt. That was when he had just come back home from the med bay, his dreams had decreased significantly in their ability to scare Peter senseless, but he still had the occasional night where his emotions were particularly unstable and sleep all the more elusive.

"No," Peter whined "you know I hate having to rely on drugs, I shouldn't have to need them."

"Eventually you won't," Ava retorted in the all too familiar debate "we have faith in you that soon your nightmares will dissipate and then you'll be taken off the medication, but until that time you need to take care of yourself and do what is necessary so you can get some real sleep."

Peter felt his shoulders slump in defeat and Sam smirked as he mentally cut another notch for Ava. Seventy-five to sixteen. "Fine," Peter murmured "but cut it in half, I don't want to be a zombie tomorrow."

Ava grinned triumphantly as she reached for the drawer containing his pill bottles "That I can agree to,"

Sam scuttled from the room, filling a glass with ice cold water and returning so to give it to Peter to aid him in taking his sleeping pill "Now be a good boy and take your medicine,"

"Shut up bucket head," Peter groused taking the cup and then swallowing his pill. The spider grimaced at the bitter taste, before curling up on his mattress with a pout "I hope you're happy now,"

"If it means you sleep the rest of the night without waking up screaming, then yes, I'm very happy," Ava chuckled as she and Danny tucked their leader in noting how he was already yawning from the effects of the medication.

"Get some sleep, web head," Sam smiled squeezing Peter's shoulder softly.

"Yeah, sweet dreams," Luke chorused "or no dreams, that would probably be better,"

Peter mumbled incoherent complaints at their words, but was swiftly being pulled under into the folds of a drugged sleep. Danny merely shook his head and tugged the blankets up a little higher around the teen "Good night spider, sleep well,"

…..

"Are you well?"

Ava shook her head willing the memories away only to face the concerned look of their resident monk "Yeah, just thinking about last night."

Danny nodded his head in understanding "I empathize, it has already been three months since our spider was released from the med bay but to me it feels as if he is getting worse."

"Exactly!" Ava burst one hand gripping Danny's shoulder "Peter's keeping a secret from us, I can practically smell it on him every time I catch his scent. His dreams should be going away, but they're not. I talked to the doctor and he said that they would only be brought on by stress at this point, and as far as we know he has had nothing to be stressed about."

Danny cast a thoughtful gaze to the floor before giving his hesitant answer "So the real question is, what is making our spider so anxious that it calls his worst nightmares to plague him every night?"

"And another good question," Ava sighed her brown eyes melting with hurt and concern "why doesn't he tell us?"

 **Angst, angst, and more angst. I warned you all, this was going to be dark and rather heavy. I promise to try and lighten it up from time to time, but I really wanted to see this team support and essentially rescue Peter for once.**

 **Please REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm very pleased with the positive reactions towards this story. I know it's heavy and dark, but I will try to keep the lighthearted nature of the show.**

 **Also to the reviewer requesting I use Man-Spider, while that plays into the 90's version of Peter's evolution, it doesn't fit the storyline I'm basing this off of. As I said before, this plot is being based off of Marvel Knights' work The Other.**

 **Please enjoy this latest chapter!**

Sam walked alongside Peter, fully aware that the team had formed a protective half-moon around the spider, their leader on the other hand either wasn't aware of their formation or was choosing to not acknowledge it. Knowing web head it was probably the latter. Nova knew how much the arachnid hated showing weakness, so when the team became more protective of him due to injury or anything else that would threaten his safety, Peter would pretend he didn't notice and choose to look the other way concerning their habits. Though he would also try to ditch them too, and taking that into consideration, Sam kept his eyes firmly on their leader ensuring he wouldn't try an escape attempt. Granted Morlun was gone, and technically the only thing that was endangering Peter was quite simply his own mind, still Sam couldn't shake the feeling that something even deeper was at stake something that their leader had yet to divulge, and that alone put the young Nova supremely on edge.

Especially after last night.

Sam winced as memories from the night before slid back into his mind like a poisonous gas creeping across the underbrush of the forest. Seeing Peter in such a state of agonized panic, the teen could only shudder at the image he had come to know so well over the past three months. It was bad enough that he had to deal with being the one chosen to transport Peter to the med bay. Sam would never forget the heat of the radiation, green flames practically leaping off his friend and leader, and the horrible sound of Peter's screams the entire trip. Sam hugged himself, trying to draw in a little bit of comfort when he unconsciously remembered how many times he had almost dropped the writhing spider in his haste to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base. However it only got worse from there.

Like a scene straight out of a horror film, Sam had dumped Spider-man onto the nearest bed and watched as a flurry of scientists and doctors surrounded Peter. The room melted into chaos as multiple voices shouted orders, some prepping the machine that would get the radiation out of Peter's body while others prepared crash carts in case they needed to revive him. His teammates weren't far behind and soon the four friends were holding each other, eyes brimming with tears as Spidey was rolled into the device. Even now when he closed his eyes Sam could still see Peter's back arch as the most horrifying shriek ripped itself out of the Spider's mouth stretching his mask and sending the teen into a full on seizure. The lithe frame convulsed on the bed inside the chamber until after what felt like hours, the process was complete. It wasn't long after that, that Peter had fallen into his coma. Though the arachnid didn't remember, his team had stayed by his side every day all the way up to the moment he finally woke up.

"Hey bucket head, why so glum?" A familiar finger flicked the back of his head making the Nova yelp.

"What was that for?" Sam snapped whirling to meet teasing brown eyes, his face an angry pout.

Peter merely replied with a snarky grin "Sorry, you were freaking me out with how quiet you were being. I was starting to worry that you had been abducted and replaced by an alien or something!"

"Hardy-har-har," Sam retorted "why does everyone think that aliens abduct people? They really could care less about Earth, we're a backwater to them."

Peter laughed "For experimentation, duh!"

"Please," Nova scoffed "that's just ridiculous."

"Not as ridiculous as your face,"

Nova slowly turned to face Peter, noting the smirk and how his eyes gleamed, it was moments like this that life felt almost normal again "Them's fightin' words," Sam growled in his best western drawl.

"Possibly," Peter grinned "but it won't be considered much of a fight considering who my opponent is."

The team let out an amused "Oh," at Peter's statement, Ava giggled "Burn!"

"Yeah man," Luke chuckled giving Sam's shoulder a gentle slap "you gonna let Peter talk to you like that?"

"Indeed," Danny smiled a mischievous gleam lighting his own solemn gaze "his challenge was made quite clear."

"Oh you are so dead, Web head," Nova spat jumping onto Peter and grappling to get the arachnid into a headlock "just you wait until gym, I'm going to mop the floor with you and you'll have no choice but to let me win!"

"That's cheating," Peter yelped, his grin never leaving his face "at least wait until after school when we're on equal ground!"

"No way!" Sam cackled somehow managing to crawl further up onto Peter.

The spider shoved Sam off his shoulders, tumbling him onto the grass of a nearby lawn "That's it, if you're going to be like that then I'll just have to take care of you before we get to class!"

"Let's see you try bug breath!"

Peter laughed taking a fighting stance, his fists raised and ready to meet Nova's "Bring it on, bucket head!"

The duo faced each other, Nova ready as was Spidey but the younger boy couldn't help but feel himself draw back from the friendly spar. There was something off about Peter. He seemed to almost sway on his feet, as if he were unbalanced, which was rare if not impossible considering who Peter was. Plus Sam noticed a slight tremble in the spider's fists, it reminded him of previous fights when they were all past the point of exhaustion but still fought on anyway despite the weakness in their limbs. Those small observations caused Nova to frown.

"Nah," he said pulling back "I don't feel like it anymore, I mean I can only beat you so many times before I get bored."

"When did you ever beat me?!" Peter scoffed, put off and slightly irritated by the odd surrender of his friend "How about I remind you just why I'm team leader?"

Spidey shot forward, slinging a right hook at Sam, careful not to use too much of his spider strength but not realizing that his opponent had taken enough of his blows to notice the difference. Sam's anxiety shot up ten points as he felt the familiar punch, albeit playful, from the spider. This didn't feel like his usual punches, it felt…weaker and more unsteady as if he couldn't gather enough power into his arm for the hit. This wasn't right, even when the web head held back it was never this easy to block. Which could only mean one thing, Peter was worse off than he was saying and hadn't even thought to tell them.

Nova slapped aside two punches, concern and anger warring inside his heart making him feel sick to his stomach all before grabbing the Spider's arm with a roar and slinging him over his shoulder to land roughly on his back. Peter lay on the grass, surprise etched across his face while Nova stood over him panting hard. Sam couldn't believe it, they had sparred plenty of times and in terms of brute strength Peter always won, so how could he have bested him? Nova gave a heavy swallow, leaning down to help Spidey to his feet.

"Uh, thanks," Peter muttered looking anywhere but at Sam, his brown eyes darkening in what could only be described as shame.

Sam didn't let go of his leader's hand, but merely squeezed it harder, his own dark eyes searching for proof that maybe he was just overthinking things. That Peter was fine, and he was blowing the hero's current condition out of proportion. However while Peter was unable to return the testing grip with his own spider strength, Sam came to the awful realization that his hunch had been correct. Peter was weaker now, and just as clear as he could see the world around him, Sam could tell by looking in the spider's eyes that their leader was keeping a terrible secret. An unnamable emotion stabbed the young Guardian's heart, making the boy grind his teeth in frustration. How could he? How _dare_ he?! They had spent the past three months doing everything they could to try and help him stay alive, to help him recover, and now he pulls this? They were supposed to be a team!

"Uh, Nova?" Spidey teased, discomfort dripping from every syllable as he watched the seething teen in front of him "you can let go of my hand now…I'm back up and all that. Unless you're suddenly wanting to arm wrestle?"

Betrayal, Sam decided. That was it. That was what he was feeling. Betrayal that the great Spider-Man wouldn't trust them enough to tell them that something was wrong, betrayal that he once again treated his life as something worthless without regard for their feelings, betrayal that after everything they had been through he still wouldn't turn to them when he needed help. Nova could only duck his head as the anger grew into a terrible fury making hot tears sting in the corner of his eyes "When were you going to tell us?"

Peter's eyes widened, his pupils dilating as panic shot through his system before he schooled his features back into the smirking neutral "Tell you what?"

"You know exactly what," the younger boy snarled pinning the spider with eyes like twin burning coals.

"No, actually I don't." Peter deflected, his voice strong even as he took his time answering the guardian slowly so that his words were not lost in translation.

"Don't give me that trash!" Sam spit "I can tell you're different!"

"Oh!" Peter finally exclaimed taking two steps backwards so to distance himself from his teammate "You must mean my new haircut! Sorry, I didn't realize not coming to you for fashion advice was so important to you."

Nova clenched his fist, his teeth grinding against each other hard enough to make his jaw bone creak "You idiot," he hissed "always making stupid jokes over something serious."

"Sheesh, Nova," Peter scoffed "what's it to you if I decide I felt like a change."

"You know I'm not talking about your hair, nimrod!" Sam exploded grabbing Peter by the front of the shirt "I'm talking about-!"

Suddenly Sam stopped, cobalt met brown and not for the first time did Sam realize that no matter how much he yelled, scolded or lectured Peter wasn't going to give up his secret. Be it from some twisted desire to somehow protect them, or simply because he didn't want to show his vulnerable side in daylight the Spider wasn't going to budge. Sam squeezed the shirt clamped between his fingers ever tighter before shoving Peter away. Turning around so no one could see how close he was to having an emotional meltdown of his own, the teen drew in a shuddering breath.

"Whatever," he muttered "it's not like you care anyway,"

"Sam,"

Nova shrugged off Peter's attempt "No," he growled "you come talk to me when you're not being an idiot anymore. Until then, don't even try to apologize."

With that said Sam took off down the street, refusing to look back or acknowledge the spider standing with clenched fists of his own "Why?"

"He's worried about you," Danny spoke, the first since what was supposed to be a friendly spar began "he senses you are holding back information from us and it has hurt him deeply."

"What, you too?!" Peter shouted whirling around to face the monk "I'm fine, sure I still have the stupid nightmares, but I'm just fine. You said it yourself last night!"

"No," Danny shook his head softly "I merely said you survived, I did not say you were fine."

"Oh, just stow all that mystical wisdom junk," the spider seethed "you never say what you mean anyway,"

"The same could be said of you," Ava cut in, her own eyes containing a deep sorrow that was laced with fear "I mean, how are we supposed to know that you're ok if you never tell us any different."

"I'm the leader," Peter growled "I'm not supposed to be weak, I'm supposed to be strong. Telling you every time I get a headache isn't going to help us do our jobs!"

"Pete," Luke placed a heavy hand on the spider's shoulder, trying to convey that they weren't attacking him "we almost lost you once, we don't expect you to tell us everything, but the important things we do."

"I guess you and I have different opinions on the definition of important then, huh?" Peter glared at the larger teen.

"Only when it comes to your wellbeing,"

Peter shook Luke's hand off his shoulder, stepping away from his team "Look I appreciate the concern, but what I'm dealing with isn't any of your business."

"It is our concern if it makes you a liability to this team," Ava burst "it's our concern if it puts all of us in danger because we didn't know!"

Peter frowned, his hand tightening its grip on his backpack. Why was he feeling guilty? His health problems weren't their issue. He was the one who made the decision to absorb all that radiation, he was the one who took responsibility for defeating Morlun and endangering his own life in the process. They shouldn't care about what happens to him, no one else did, he was just an orphan whose irresponsibility cost his Uncle Ben his life and now was a burden to his aunt. His team, they shouldn't care. He was just someone they were forced to work with, the clown who made jokes so he didn't have to face the darkness creeping at the edge of his emotions. He wasn't important, why couldn't they understand that?

"If me putting you guys in danger is what you're worried about then I'll just solve that problem for you," Peter finally mumbled casting dark eyes to the ground "consider this team dissolved. You guys are probably better without me anyway and you won't have to worry about me hurting you."

"Peter, that's not what I meant!"

"Its fine Ava, it's for the best." Peter turned around and began the long trek to school "I'll see you all later,"

Ava gaped at Peter's back, her mind reeling trying to understand how such a good morning could have gone so horribly wrong "Peter," her voice was barely a shout but she found herself running to catch up with the spider "don't be an idiot, dissolving the team isn't going to help anything!"

Peter turned, sensing Ava's approach "Just stop-!" the teen halted midsentence as his spider-sense went into overdrive, something was about to attack and Peter needed to stop it before it did. However his legs refused to move as he once again felt his spider power slip away leaving him helpless. Casting his gaze up, Peter was horrified to see the looming form of a car as it flew through the air directly towards the tiger. Unable to move, unable to do anything, Peter could only send an echoing scream towards his friend.

"Ava, watch out!"

 **Went for light hearted, but then this chapter said, "No, let's go for angst again!"**

 **Mean chapter.**

 **REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! I'm back! I'm super excited about how many people are enjoying this fic. So let's dive into the next chapter, shall we?**

"Ava! Watch Out!"

The tigress turned around just in time to see a large car being thrown her way. If it had not been for her training, not to mention the tiger enhanced abilities, she would very well have been squashed. Thankfully though the hours spent in the simulation room, not to mention honing her personal gifts, played in her favor as she darted out of the way with a yelp. The teens stood, minus Peter who was huddled down on the ground clutching his stomach with a pained grimace, their bodies tense as they watched the their attacker stroll casually down the road, red goggles covering his eyes clad in blue and gold while spinning a gun in each hand.

"Sorry kids," he called jovially as he walked past them and further down the road "just on my way to the big city and thought I'd test these babies out!"

Peter gave a heavy gulp in apprehension, if those guns could shoot a car skyward then they had problems…big problems. The biggest one being finding a way to change into their costumes, which unfortunately mean letting the guy get away and then scouring the city for him afterwards. The spider allowed himself a smirk, thankfully he always carried a spider-tracer or two in his pockets, just in case something of this nature cropped up. Carefully sneaking his hand around to dig one out without being seen, Peter focused his strength and precision into this one shot. Balancing the spider-tracer between two fingertips, Peter flicked it much like a magician would a card and watched as it gracefully attached itself, light as a feather, to the back of the rogue's costume. Spidey smirked. To be honest, the boy thought to himself, even Hawkeye would be proud of his shot what with the thirty feet distance between them and wind shear and all that.

The four teen heroes watched as he disappeared before exchanging knowing looks "Let's go," Peter commanded "I got a tracer on him, so all we have to do is change and then I can track him from there."

Ava smirked at Peter noticing the change in his attitude "I thought that our team was dissolved?"

"It is," Peter barked his features dark "but just not right now. We have a situation that needs to be taken care of and if we don't stop that madman, he'll hurt someone. So are you going to stand there quibbling over technicalities? Or help me stop a criminal?!"

The tigress raised her hands in seeming surrender, but her smile hadn't left her face. This wasn't the first time Peter had quit the team for their own good, that's what he said at least, and she doubted it would be the last. But if there was one thing they could count on, was that as long as there was a New York to save and protect, Spider-man would always be there even if it meant delaying his supposed 'departure'.

As one the group ran into a nearby alley, all pulling out their costumes in tandem. Peter tugged his mask over his head, activating his communicator "Nova, you read?"

"I thought I said I'm not talking to you," the boy snarled over the link.

"Yeah I get it," Spidey barked back "you can be emo later, right now we've got a job to do. There's a heavy duty villain heading your way into the city, he's packing serious heat and isn't afraid to share the love. I'm sending you the coordinates from the spider-tracer now, I need you to keep him busy and contained until we arrive on the scene!"

Nova paused, his reply not coming for well over a minute until his strained voice came back over the com "Roger that,"

Peter wheeled on the rest of his teammates, his frame serious and commanding "Alright everyone, you know the drill. Let's not keep Nova waiting!"

"Right!"

…..

Nova shot through the sky like the human rocket he was, his eyes scanning the ground as the tracer in his helmet directed him towards where the criminal was. Spidey sounded pretty serious, so Nova knew not to mess around, whoever this guy was, he needed to be taken down and fast. Granted he was still peeved at Peter for keeping secrets from them, or at least one particular secret that even he didn't want to think about. True, Spider-man kept his personal life, personal. That's why he freaked when he first saw them enrolled in his school, and every time after that that they invaded his personal space at home. Nova understood that. Though he had hoped that them moving into his house would help Peter relax a little bit more around them and not feel so defensive. Secrets were part of the job, they were used to it. But this?

Whatever 'this' was, that is.

Sam snarled to himself, taking a sharp left. Something had happened, was happening that Peter wasn't saying and that made the guardian really frustrated. He could feel it during their spar just barely twenty minutes ago, Peter was weaker, and he had been slipping up a lot more during patrol. The team had just assumed that he was still recovering from his fight with Morlun, however Sam had been keeping certain suspicions to himself; suspicions that deduced Peter didn't actually come out of the fight with no aftereffects from the radiation. Nova knew radiation, his time in space had taught him many things, and radiation was just part of the playing field when running with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Even Starlord had to recover from some nasty effects from touching the infinity stone, some which still plague him every now and again. So the idea that Peter could just walk away from the battle with no remnants of the poison just didn't jive.

Not that he ever said anything to the team.

Nova winced, guilt creeping into the back of his mind and making his stomach curl. Ok, so he was keeping his own secrets from the team as well. He had rationalized it as not wanting to cause unnecessary worry or make a mountain out of a molehill, so he kept his mouth shut. I mean, it was Spidey for goodness sake, right? Peter was strong, but now Sam had to admit that maybe he should have said something sooner.

The young guardian gave his head a violent shake, he would think about that later. Right now he had a villain to track down and contain so that no one would get hurt. Right on time, his tracker beeped alerting him that the criminal was right below him, in a black limo? That was one of their weirder moments. Nova merely shrugged, "I guess if you're going to go around destroying New York, might as well do it in style, right?"

Without a second thought, Sam dove down and crashed down onto the hood of the car, crushing the motor and essentially crumpling the entire front of the car. Nova gave a haughty salute as the driver dove out of the car, scrambling away and muttering about how his paygrade didn't cover crazy super powered teenagers. Hopping down from the hood, Nova strolled around the car, watching as the back door opened, and waited to come face to face with… J. Jonah Jameson?!

"What do you think you're doing you hooligan?!" the irate journalistic tycoon bellowed with impressive volume "You just totaled my car! Do you even know how much that is going to cost to replace?! I hope you're ready to pay for the cost in damages, not to mention the cost to replace my driver!"

"Uh….uh….!" Nova backpedaled, his mind reeling as he scrambled for a viable exit, only to bump into Spider-man himself. Grabbing Spidey by the shoulders Nova switched their places with a neat flip, effectively hiding behind the spider "Here Mr. Jameson you can talk to Spidey, he's our leader after all and I'm sure he'll be able to listen to your complaints!"

"Wait…WHAT?!"

Peter pushed against Sam, trying to back up but finding said boy pushing him still further onward toward his arch nemesis, curse you weakened spider strength! "Nova, stop!"

"No," Sam gave a vehement shake of his head, not wishing to be the sacrificial lamb to the altogether terrifying news editor "YOU'RE the leader, so YOU get to lead in handling negotiations" cue a small grunt as Sam proceeded to give one more healthy push against Spidey "with disgruntled citizens!"

"Well, YOU were the one who practically dismantled his car!" Spider-man argued back digging his heels into the pavement "Care to explain that?!"

"YOUR spider tracer said the bad guy was IN THERE!"

"Why would my spider tracer, which I put directly ON the villain by the way," Spidey snapped still struggling against Nova's desperate pushes "be on J. Jonah Jameson's CAR?! You know we give this lunatic a wide berth for a reason!"

"I don't know!" Nova bawled waving his arms as he let go watching as Spidey fell to the pavement in a heap "I was just following the coordinates you gave me!"

"Well YOU should have used your head and consid-!"

"GUYS!" White tiger finally shouted separating the two dueling teammates from where they stood nose to nose "maybe, if you took a second and actually used your brains, the villain found out about the tracer and sent us on a wild goose chase? Ever think of that?!"

The duo fell silent as the idea sunk into their heads and both gave a sigh of abject embarrassment "You're probably right," they muttered miserably.

"Of course I am," White Tiger snapped with a roll of her eyes "now we need to go before-!"

"SPIDER-MAN!"

The spider jumped with a yelp as Fury bellowed though his com "Yes, sir!"

"There's a bank robbery taking place at Bank NY ten blocks from your direction, the perp is holding over twenty hostages and messed with the traffic signals so the cops have no way of getting there. He's a new guy plus armed and dangerous."

"Got it! On our way!"

The team immediately turned, rushing towards the new crime scene, however Jameson was not to be ignored "HEY YOU BRATS! Is anyone going to do anything about my car?!"

"Uh, Sorry Jameson," Spider-man shrugged helplessly "I'll tell Fury to reimburse you or something like that."

"Why S.H.I.E.L.D. hired a menace like you I'll never know," Jameson snarled "you're a no good freak and danger to this city!"

"Yeah, yeah," Spidey waved away "I've heard it all before. Sheesh J.J. you'd think that for a journalist tycoon you'd have learned how to come up with new material by now, we've been hearing the same thing for years!"

"Just you wait, Spider-Man," Jameson continued in his rant "I'm going to tell the world what a worthless piece of trash you are. You're no hero, you just spread poison everywhere you go, hurting and causing destruction is what you do best!"

Peter bit back a wince, not for the first time thankful for his mask in hiding just how deeply those words pierced him "Got it," he quipped "oh, and by the way, Hitler called. He wants his mustache back."

With that being said Peter swung away, towards their latest villain, and a prayer on his lips that his body would be able to hold out long enough to take the man down.

 **Whew… Writing J. Jonah Jameson is EXHAUSTING. Hope to hear from you all, please REVIEW, I love reading them, even if it is a critique (just be nice, ok?).**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow! I'm really happy with the response this story is getting!**

 **Onto the next chapter!**

"Ugh," Nova shivered "I hate dealing with Jameson, he's crazier than Loki,"

"And that's saying something," Luke muttered with a slight smirk.

"Seriously," White Tiger growled "what possessed you to total his limo in the first place?"

"Web-head said that he put a tracer on the guy!" Nova defended "I was just following the signal!"

"That is why I believe the saying goes, 'look before you leap'," Iron fist threw in with his usual monotone.

"Huh?"

"Didn't it occur to you that the villain might not be cruising around in a limo?" Power-man scoffed.

"We've seen weirder," Nova shrugged.

"Touche," Spider-man nodded "however a little common sense goes a long way,"

"Meaning?" Sam queried.

"Meaning that you use your head and analyze the situation before wrecking fortune five-hundred limos!" Ava bellowed.

"What she said, oh, and thanks by the way," Spider-man pouted in Nova's direction "I just loved being thrown under the bus back there with Jameson."

"What do you mean by bus, when was there was a bus?"

The group all sweat dropped at Nova's question, "You spent way too much time around Drax," White Tiger deadpanned.

"What does Drax have to do with anything?!" Nova continued his face blank with confusion.

The team groaned in unison "It was a metaphor with the intent that you forced Spider-man into an uncomfortable situation he initially had no part in," Danny smirked.

"Oh!" Nova's face brightened in realization before it darkened again "Hey, it's not my fault he's the leader, should have thought about that when he joined the team."

White Tiger face palmed violently, as if they needed to remind the spider that he had actually dissolved the team after Nova's departure. Now the fuse had been lit and there was no escaping the inevitable fireworks "For your information," Spider-man quipped "you know very well that Fury forced me into becoming your leader, I told him no, in multiple languages no less! However I agreed after seeing how badly you needed my street smarts, something that you clearly still lack if you are going around totaling random cars without considering that the tracer was discovered and ditched by the villain!"

"It's not like you specified what you put the tracer on," Nova snarled pausing in midair making the team come to a stop on a rooftop.

"This is where common sense comes in," Spidey hissed "because quite frankly, WHO goes into NEW YORK on a CRIME SPREE in a LIMO?! Wouldn't that be the exact opposite of inconspicuous?!"

"Not that the guy really cared about being conspicuous," Ava muttered off to the side.

"I would greatly appreciate the peanut gallery to can it for the moment," Spider-man snapped before turning back to Nova "look I get you're angry at me, and I'm willing to look over your mistake especially considering it was Jameson and that jerk has had it coming for so long but I do take offense to the fact that after everything we've been through you still see me as joke!"

Spider-man heaved, his shoulders pumping, he felt his world tilting but there was no stopping the waterfall of words escaping his mouth "I've been trying to be a good leader, in spite of losing so many things I care about, I tried to be the Ultimate Spider-man for you! Fine, maybe you're right, maybe what I teach you is useless, maybe I'm just a worthless bug trying to do the impossible, but regardless I would appreciate it if I wasn't constantly the source of your punch lines!"

Peter gave a heavy swallow, his face a grimace under the mask when he noted the way his voice cracked and the telltale bulge in the back of his throat that barely held back a sob. He was so tired. So tired of being underestimated and generally swept aside. No one took him seriously, much less respected him as team leader, and the spider couldn't help the nagging feeling that no matter how hard he worked it would never be good enough. He would always be scrawny, orphan Peter Parker the man responsible for the death of his uncle and poison to all those around him.

"You know what," Spider-man finally choked out in a strangled whisper "forget it. I'll take this guy down on my own, you guys just go. I'm done being a joke to you."

"Spidey," White Tiger called out "don't do this, you're just angry right now, that's all."

The spider turned towards his city, a bitter scoff slipping through the mask at her words "If that is what it is, then I've been angry a long time."

Peter didn't allow anyone else time to speak, didn't have the energy to endure another argument, he just leapt off the building and surged forward toward the bank where Fury said their latest playmate was currently holed up. The team stood in shock each struggling to process the sudden departure of their leader.

"We should follow him," Danny finally murmured "he could get hurt in his condition."

"Psh," Nova snorted "let him be an antisocial moron, wait…His condition?"

Suddenly the boy whirled around to face his teammates "You knew?"

"Knew what?" Luke asked genuinely confused.

"About Spidey being weaker!" Nova shouted his fury mounting with every passing second "You knew that he isn't getting better at all, but that his body is getting worse?"

"It was a suspicion," Danny returned "Ava and I had no evidence to prove our theory, only the sinking feeling that something was very wrong."

Nova stepped back, his anger deflating slightly as he remembered that he too had kept his suspicions secret due to them being just that. "So what do we do?"

"Well the first thing we do is agree not to do anything to set Spidey off like that anymore," White Tiger snapped casting sharp eyes at the young guardian "knowing Peter he's probably already stressed out enough as it is just trying to stay strong in front of us, he doesn't need us making it harder for him."

"Yeah, well we wouldn't be in this predicament if he didn't always try to do that," Nova spat back "would it kill him to lean on us just a little bit? We know he's not invincible, he doesn't have to shrug off every injury and pretend that our battles don't phase him."

"Look, it bugs me too, but it's how Peter copes and it's unlikely to change any time soon," Ava shot back "so we support him the best we can until he feels ready to tell us in his own time about what's going on."

"Fine," Nova huffed.

"That's all well and good," Power-man broke in "but would someone please tell me exactly _what_ is going on?"

The trio faced their tallest member, each giving the other varied looks of guilt at not letting him into their secret theory "We believe that the spider is growing weaker, that he may have retained more internal damage from the radiation poisoning than he is willing to say."

"But…" Luke scrambled his mind blown with the revelation and concern causing his chest to clench in icy fear "my parents checked him, Dr. Connors double checked him, they said he was fine!"

"After having a lengthy discussion with Peter all alone in their office, he very easily could have told them not to say anything." White Tiger surmised.

"They would never agree to that," Luke stated with a fierce shake of his head.

"They work for Fury," Danny deflected in his calm voice "the very man who keeps secrets for a living, I do not think it would be out of the realm of belief that they would hold back information due to varying circumstances."

"Such as?" Power-man demanded.

"Maybe they wanted to study it more closely and see if it dissipates on its own?" Ava suggested, "Maybe they're looking for a cure right now and outside interference would only delay their progress?"

"Or maybe they're not even aware," Nova growled "because maybe this only started recently and since Peter always insists he's fine and the last round of tests he agreed to said he was right no one is arguing with him,"

The team fell silent at that option, their features dark with concern until White tiger gave her head a shake "Sitting here depressed isn't going to change anything, and us chasing him away by being mad over him being himself isn't going to help either."

"I agree," Iron fist said with a firm nod "Peter needs us now more than ever, we should confront him with our suspicions, but gently. Let him know we're concerned but not make him feel trapped."

"Yeah," Luke chuckled "gotta love Spidey's high octane fight or flight instinct. That alone makes him run away from an unwanted conversation faster than Nova can hoover down a sandwich."

"Hey!"

"At any rate," White Tiger stepped between Nova and Power-man before another fight erupted "we should haul butt to the bank, by now I'm sure Spidey probably needs our help and we can't let him get squished, agreed?"

"Agreed," came the unanimous response.

"Good," Tiger nodded her head "let's go,"

….

Spider-man swung towards the bank, his jaw clenched as he fought against the nausea worming its way through his stomach. He played it off as his recent sickness, but he had to admit that the majority of it came from guilt over losing it on his friends. They had been his mainstay over the past three months, never leaving his side and ensuring that he was always taken care of. They had been amazing friends, and Peter felt horrible for yelling at them. They didn't ask to be babysitting a half-dead spider. They didn't deserve being led by a loser like him.

A red clad fist clutched his stomach as it gave a spasm, making the hero grunt in pain. He didn't have time to be struggling with his current problem, there was a madman on the loose and he needed to be stopped. Swinging a sharp right, the teen finally saw his destination, and his keen eyesight showed him the very person he was after walking out of the front door. Peter grinned underneath his mask "You're new around here," he called jovially "I can tell y'know, because you still have that new bad guy smell."

The bad guy in question merely smirked, raising his guns and blasted two shots at the hero, Spidey scoffed "You really a _re_ new, aren't you? Don't you even know who I am?!"

The Spider flipped over the bullets, a satisfied smirk on his face "I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-man, I laugh at bullets."

"That's interesting," the villain chuckled "because these bullets, they laugh back."

Peter winced as his spider sense screamed through his skull forcing him to whirl around just in time to see the bullets pull a neat U-turn and speed towards him once again, Spider-man had just enough time to release a strangled squawk as he dove behind the villain "You've got to be kidding me?!"

"That won't work kid," the villain was surprisingly calm for someone who had bullets coming his direction "because once my bullets are locked on, they'll avoid any other person just to get to you."

With a yip, Peter dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the bullets, and leaping over a car to pelt down the street. Swinging through the city in a furious pace, ducking behind garbage can and billboard alike, but the hunks of metal following him were undaunted merely plowing through each obstacle in their pursuit. The villain below merely laughed "That should keep him entertained for a while?"

"What should?"

The man turned to see a young woman in a white suit, adorned with tiger stripes, standing behind him her clenched fists on her hips. The man raised an eyebrow "And you are?"

"White Tiger," the girl quipped "and while we're doing introductions, what's your moniker?"

The villain pursed his lips in careful thought before a grin split his face "Call me, Tracer,"

"Is that supposed to be a joke?"

"Is it?" Tracer asked "I'm still trying to figure out how you lot got that thing on me, luckily though Jameson and his obnoxious limo was passing by so I thought the grumpy jerk deserved a little extra special love."

"I'm sure he appreciates your efforts, I think you owe him a new car." White Tiger snickered.

"Me?" Tracer gestured to himself, his features going blank innocently "I never touched his car."

"Touché," Tiger shrugged "but you _are_ touching that stolen bag of money."

"Ah, this? Yes, I am touching this."

"I can't assume that you're going to hand that over and just turn yourself in, can I?"

"What kind of respectable bank robber would I be if I did that?" Tracer sniffed.

"Once again, touché," White Tiger nodded "ok, let's get this over with."

"Are you sure you want to be attending to me?" Tracer queried bending his knees preparing to run "Don't you want to go help your friend, I'm afraid he may be in over his head."

"Don't worry he's got backup."

…

Spider-man leapt over a Daily Bugle billboard demanding his immediate arrest, wincing as the bullets flew right through the picture "This is really bad," the teen muttered as he flung himself off the roof of a building "somebody HELP!"

 **Sorry for the length of time it took to update, holidays, crazy family drama, etc. etc. etc.**

 **Please REVIEW!**


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